New York (AP) — Things look almost normal on Black Friday this year.
Malls and stores are reporting a decent, if not flood, crowd of people fighting for the latest toys and electronics. Online shopping is now too common, discounts are more subdued and will spread over the next few weeks. At Christmas, both on the website and in the store.
However, out-of-stocks due to supply shortages, soaring gas and food prices, and labor shortages that make it difficult to serve customers are also causing shoppers’ dissatisfaction.
Mall of America, the country’s largest mall in Bloomington, Minnesota, reported that overall traffic at the time of its opening on Friday more than doubled compared to a year ago.
“We got off to a great start,” said Gillenslow, Senior Vice President of Mall of America.
However, as with many retailers and restaurants, staffing issues affected the mall and required shorter business hours.
So far, Black Friday sales, including online, have increased by 12.1% by the morning, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks all types of spending, including cash and credit cards. Steve Sadove, Mastercard’s senior adviser, called the start “impressive,” but sales were below the 20% growth forecast for the day.
Overall holiday season sales are expected to grow this year. During November and December, the National Retail Federation, the largest retail group in the United States, predicts that sales will increase between 8.5% and 10.5%. Sales increased by about 8% during the 2020 holiday season when shoppers locked down early in the pandemic spent money on pajamas and household items.
Black Friday holds the American imagination as an enthusiastic shopping day, but has lost its place in the last decade as it opens Thanksgiving and shifts shopping to Amazon and other online retailers. I did. The store further diminished the importance of that day by promoting Black Friday sales on more and more days.
Due to this pandemic, many retailers closed their stores on Thanksgiving Day and pushed discounts on their website as early as October. There are also great deals in stores, but that continues this year.
At the Fashion Center Mall in the northern suburbs of Virginia, window signs advertised Aldo for 50% off boots, J.Crew for 40% off regular priced items, and Forever 21 for 30% off. However, the sales floor looked different from the past. When a pile of tall goods was on display.
Major retailers like Wal-Mart have said they haven’t blown up “doorbuster” deals in advertising. DealNews.com Analyst Julie Ramhold. Small chains like Victoria’s Secret and Gap, on the other hand, have a hard time managing supply issues. Victoria’s Secret recently said that 45% of holiday products are still stagnant in transit.
Supply chain stagnation is a major concern this year, and both stores and shoppers are trying to find a workaround. Some of the largest retailers in the United States even charter their vessels and reroute goods to less crowded ports.
Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette said the company is ready. “We are deep and ready,” he said, with inventory levels up 20% compared to last year. “We are in good shape.”
The fear of not getting what they wanted helped bring people back to the physical store.
Tim Clayburn was shopping at the Fashion Center in Pentagon City, Virginia, on Friday morning. He wanted to make sure he received the gifts he wanted from his relatives.
“I’m very worried that everyone won’t ship things to you on time. I’d rather get things directly, so I don’t have to worry about shipping,” he said.
But that didn’t work for everyone. “What I bought is already out of stock both in store and online,” Adivander Belt said while browsing Apple’s laptop at Best Buy in Lone Tree, a suburb of Denver. rice field. “Now I’m looking around to find something to get up at 4am and get the most out of here.”
Still, experts believe that Black Friday will be one of the busiest shopping days of the year. According to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which measures overall retail sales for all payment types, this past Monday-Sunday US retail sales were 10% from last year, except for cars and gas, during the 2019 holiday season. Is expected to increase by 12%.
Some malls on Long Island have been busier than last year, but haven’t been enthusiastic, said Marshal Cohen of market research firm The NPD Group. Shopper Edmund Kunas said there were about 30 people in the Denver area’s Best Buy when the door opened at 5 am nationwide.
“It’s amazing how small the crowd is this morning,” said Kunath, who was looking for a deal on Apple AirPods headphones and hard drives.
At Macy’s in Manhattan, a pandemic was imminent. Employees wore masks, and many shoppers wore masks, but there was also a sense of celebrating the joy of shopping.
Carol Claridge of Bourne, England, has been in New York for 15 years for Thanksgiving Week shopping, but skipped last year due to a pandemic. The United States reopened to travelers from the United Kingdom in early November when the pandemic travel ban was lifted.
“I had to wait a long time to do this,” said Claridge, who was looking at the beauty gift set on the ground floor of Macy’s with a friend. “We pick up whatever we think we like. We call it an annual shopping outing.”
According to Aurelien Duthoyit, Senior Sector Advisor at Allianz Research, shoppers are expected to pay an average of 5% to 17% more to buy Black Friday toys, clothing, appliances, TVs and more this year. TV price increase. This is because the discounts available apply to items that are already expensive.
Aniva Pawlowski arrived at Macy’s shortly before opening at 6am and planned to buy shoes and a coat. Shopping on Thanksgiving was a family tradition, but she stayed home last year to shop online. New Yorkers are worried about rising gas and food costs, but are now shopping directly because of fears of shortages, and will spend about $ 1,000 on holiday shopping.
“Everything is expensive,” she said.
According to Mastercard, online shopping is still huge, with weekly sales expected to increase by 7% after a significant increase of 46% a year ago when many shoppers were at home. Throughout the holiday season, online sales should increase by 10% from a year ago, compared to 33% last year, according to the Adobe Digital Economy Index.
“What the pandemic has brought to the retail industry has been forced to become a better digital retailer,” said Cohen of The NPD Group. In other words, the day after Thanksgiving was no longer the case.
David Zalubowski of Lone Tree, Colorado and Parker Purifoy of Arlington, Virginia contributed to this report.
Copyright 2021 AP communication. all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission.
Black Friday is back, but it wasn’t before | National News
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